Episode 1498: Season Preview Series: Cubs and Diamondbacks
Date February 10, 2020 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the remade Mookie Betts trade, the latest revelations about the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal (including “Codebreaker” and “the dark arts”), and the Mets’ failed sale to hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen. Then they preview the 2020 Cubs (46:13) with The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, and the 2020 Diamondbacks (1:20:08) with The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. Topics * Chicago Cubs preview with Sahadev Sharma * Cubs' quiet offseason and imposed financial restrictions * Lack of pitcher development * Kris Bryant's service time grievance * Switch to a regional sports network * Expectations for Yu Darvish * Craig Kimbrel's poor 2019 * David Ross as manager * Addressing deficiencies in player development * Roster holes * How do Cubs fans feel going into the season? * Arizona Diamondbacks preview with Nick Piecoro * Recapping the 2019 season * Ketel Marte * Luke Weaver's health * Zac Gallen * Improvements to the farm system * How will the team leverage prospects? * Madison Bumgarner * Robbie Ray * Plans for outfield * Moving Ketel Marte back to the infield * Impact of synthetic playing surface and humidor * Rumors about a new stadium * Nick Ahmed's defensive strengths * What is success in 2020 for the team? * Long term competitiveness in the NL West * Tim Locastro's high HBP rate Intro No-Fi Soul Rebellion, "Dark Arts" Interstitials Of Montreal, "Doing Nothing" Ultrababyfat, "Diamondback" Outro Tunng, "Code Breaker" Banter * Ben and Meg break down the finalized Dodgers and Red Sox trade involving Mookie Betts. The trade was first discussed in Episode 1496 but did not go through as originally planned because of issues with Brusdar Graterol's medical. * The Dodgers and Angels are no longer making a trade involving Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling. * A Wall Street Journal report details how the Astros' sign-stealing scandal originated via a Microsoft Excel program called "Code Breaker" that was created by a front office intern. * Emails from the Astros suggest that former GM Jeff Luhnow did know about the sign stealing system. * Meg is astounded at the uncreative names (Code Breaker, Dark Arts) the team used to refer to the systems. She says it highlights the value of the humanities that "you spend all this time doing math and you can't come up with proper nouns for stuff." * MLB's desire to move on from the cheating scandal * The sale of the Mets to current minority owner Steve Cohen fell through and the team will go back on the market. Notes * Frustration among Cubs fans is growing after two consecutive off seasons without a major move by the team. * Sahadev thinks that Kris Bryant is going to be traded this season * Sahadev predicts that the Cubs will win 86 games and finish second or third in the division. He also predicts that the team will be sellers during the first half of the season. * The Diamondbacks' farm system was one of the worst in the league in 2017 and 2018. They now have one of the better farm systems in MLB, in part due to having 7 of the first 75 picks in the 2019 draft. Nick says that fans expect a playoff appearance for the season to be considered a success. He predicts that the team will win 87 games. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1498: Season Preview Series: Cubs and Diamondbacks * ‘Dark Arts’ and ‘Codebreaker’: The Origins of the Houston Astros Cheating Scheme by Jared Diamond * The Cardinals Develop Young Pitchers. The Cubs Don’t. Which Team Is Going To The Playoffs? by Travis Sawchik * Believe it or not, the Cubs are undergoing a major transformation. What effect will it have? by Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma Category:Episodes Category:Guest Episodes Category:Season Preview Series